Virat Kohli Considering Test Retirement Ahead of England Series

Virat Kohli might be on the verge of walking away from Test cricket. The former Indian skipper has reportedly informed the BCCI of his intention to retire from the format before the upcoming five-match series in England, which begins on June 20. According to sources close to ESPNcricinfo, Kohli has been in private discussions with board officials over the past month.

If Kohli follows through, it would mark the end of a 14-year-long red-ball career that has seen him don the Test whites 123 times, scoring 9230 runs at an average of 46.85. He captained India in 68 of those matches, leading them to 40 victories—a record unmatched by any other Indian skipper and the fourth-most successful tally for any captain in Test history. But it’s not just about the numbers. Kohli redefined what Test cricket meant to a generation raised on T20. He brought passion, aggression, and unmatched intensity to the format, and under his leadership, India developed into a fierce force both at home and away. 

However, recent years haven’t been as kind to the maestro. Since reaching his career-best 254* against South Africa in 2019, Kohli's numbers have seen a notable dip. His average over the last two years has slumped to 32.56. When he struck an unbeaten 100 in Perth in November 2024, it was his first Test hundred in 16 months – his last being in July 2023 against West Indies. Despite the lean patch, the BCCI isn’t ready to let go of him just yet. With major tours on the horizon – including series in England and Australia – Kohli’s experience is seen as too valuable to lose.

“He's still incredibly fit and hungry. His presence in the dressing room lifts the entire team,” a senior BCCI official told ESPNcricinfo on condition of anonymity. “We've requested him to take some time before making a final call.” So far, Kohli hasn’t made any public announcement, but whispers of his retirement have triggered an outpouring of emotion on social media. Fans and former cricketers have rallied behind him, urging him to give it one more go. 

Adding more weight to the situation, both Kohli and Rohit Sharma were retained in the BCCI’s topmost contract bracket (A+), a category generally reserved for players who feature across formats. But with both having retired from T20Is after lifting the World Cup last year, and now potentially stepping away from Tests too, their future in Indian colors could be limited to ODIs.  

It’s been a phase of transition for Indian cricket. Rohit Sharma has already called time on his Test career. Ravichandran Ashwin bowed out after the Australia series earlier this year. Veterans like Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane are no longer in the selection frame, and Mohammed Shami has been trying to claw back into form after an extended injury layoff. Kohli is one of the last experienced hands left, alongside KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, and Jasprit Bumrah. 

But perhaps the most emotional part of this potential farewell is the symmetry of where it might end – England. It was on the 2018 tour that Kohli truly buried the ghosts of 2014, when James Anderson had tormented him mercilessly. In 2018, Kohli responded with steel and skill, scoring 583 runs at an average of 59.30 across five Tests. In fact, that whole stretch between 2016 and 2018 remains etched in memory as Kohli’s golden era in whites. He averaged 75.93 in 2016, followed by 75.64 in 2017 and 55.08 in 2018. Across those three years, he racked up 3596 runs in just 35 Tests at a staggering average of 66.59, with 14 hundreds and eight fifties. 

The decline that followed has been hard to ignore, but so too has been the weight of expectation and the toll of all-format cricket. At 36, Kohli has little left to prove in red-ball cricket. And yet, the idea of a final hurrah in England – where he rewrote his story once – feels poetic. For now, Indian cricket waits. Waits to see if Kohli makes that walk one last time in England. Waits to see if the man who carried Indian Test cricket on his shoulders for a decade will give it one more chapter.